Historically, men and women have nearly always worn jewelry of some variety. Usually the ornaments worn as jewelry are used as one particular type of jewelry piece. Three examples are earrings, tie pins, and fraternity/sorority pins. Outside of their intended purpose these items of jewelry are seldom, if ever, used for anything else.
Oftentimes the clasp portion of a tie pin or a fraternity/sorority pin will become lost. One earring may become lost rendering the other one useless. Another common problem is that less expensive pierced earrings may irritate sensitive ears and can no longer be worn.
One of the more appealing features of jewelry in general is that a person can choose to wear a particular item of jewelry on any given occasion. But the wearer has had very little direct input into the design and overall appearance of jewelry on the market today. Therefore, to have the right jewelry for any particular occasion requires a person to own many items of jewelry, which can be very expensive.